Join us this autumn as we journey “Down East” during the fall foliage to explore Maine, the Pine Tree State. We will visit historic homes, forts, lighthouses and picturesque fishing villages. We will savor a traditional Maine lobster bake and enjoy a 2-hour Windjammer Cruise out of Bar Harbor. Our tour concludes with two days tracing Benedict Arnold’s ill-fated 1775 Secret Expedition through the Maine wilderness to Quebec City.

Did you know: That the Maine-Canada border was in dispute until 1842? That the first naval engagement of the American Revolution took place in the waters off Machias, Maine? That the worst naval disaster in American history prior to Pearl Harbor was the Penobscot Expedition (July 24-August 12, 1792) in Castine, Maine? That the only naval battle of the War of 1812 viewed by people on shore was fought off Pemaquid Point, Maine 200 years ago (Sept 5, 1813)?

On a tour of Brunswick Maine, we will learn why they claim that the Civil War began and ended with their town. At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, we will learn about former residents Harriet Beecher Stowe, Joshua Chamberlain and Admiral Robert Perry. Stops will include a tour of the Joshua Chamberlain House.

We'll have lunch in Bath with shipwrights who are constructing a replica of the Virginia, the first ship built by the English in the New World (1607-08). At the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, we will tour two shipyards--the Bath Ironworks where modern U.S. Navy destroyers are built and the historic Perry & Small shipyard, which built the six-master Wyoming, the largest wooden vessel ever built in the U.S. Continue to Popham at the mouth of the Kennebec River, the site of an ill-fated colony in 1607-08 and where Benedict Arnold’s men began up the Kennebec on their secret expedition to Quebec in 1775. O/N Hampton Inn, Bath

October 11, Friday (B,L,D)

This morning, we’ll drive north to Thomaston where we will tour the home of Revolutionary War hero Henry Knox. We’ll continue to Bucksport to visit Fort Knox State Historic Site, built in 1844 following the Aroostook War, a border dispute with Great Britain over the Maine-Canada border. We will tour the seaside town of Castine, the site of the Penobscot Expedition of 1779. It was the worst naval disaster in American history prior to Pearl Harbor. Spend the next two nights in Bar Harbor where all guest rooms face the waters of Frenchman’s Bay.

O/N Atlantic Oceanside Hotel & Conference Center, Bar Harbor

October 12, Saturday (B,L,D)

We’ll spend the day exploring Acadia National Park, the oldest National Park east of the Mississippi River. We’ll take a guided bus tour of the Park that will include stops on Cadillac Mountain and Thunder Hole. Lunch at Jordan Pond House will include their signature popovers. In the afternoon, we’ll enjoy a two-hour ranger–guided cruise of Frenchman’s Bay aboard a four-masted windjammer. This evening we’ll savor a traditional lobster dinner. O/N Atlantic Oceanside Hotel & Conference Center, Bar Harbor

October 13, Sunday (B,L)

Drive to the Canadian Provence of New Brunswick to visit the Roosevelt Campbello International Park. FDR spent summers on Campobello, his “Beloved Island,” from the age of one through adulthood. We’ll tour the 34-room “cottage” that he acquired in 1909 and used as a summer retreat until 1939. Continue to the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse that is situated on the easternmost point of land in the United States. We will end the day in the town of Machias, one of the birthplaces of the American Navy. The first naval engagement of the American Revolution took place here just weeks after the action at Lexington and Concord.O/N Fort Knox Inn, Bucksport

October 14, Monday (B,L,D)

We’ll drive to Pemaquid Lighthouse, commissioned in 1827 by President John Quincy Adams. Constructed on a spectacular rock ledge on the ocean’s edge, this photogenic lighthouse is featured on the Maine state quarter. Following lunch at a lobster wharf in New Harbor, we’ll pick up the route of Arnold’s ships as they sailed up the Kennebec to the Major Reuben Colburn House. By special arrangement, author and historian Tom Desjardins (Stand Firm Ye Boys from Maine and Through A Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775!) will open the Colburn House for us. Here Arnold’s men transferred their supplies into 220 batteaux that Colburn built for them. O/N Hampton Inn, Augusta

October 15, Tuesday (B,L,D)

In Augusta, we’ll tour Fort Western. Built in 1754 at the head of navigation of the Kennebec, it is America’s oldest surviving wooden fort. Arnold used Fort Western as staging point on his assault on Quebec. We’ll proceed north along the Kennebec following Arnold’s ill-fated march through the beautiful Maine wilderness. Stops will include Fort Halifax, Skowhegan, Norridgewock Falls, and Solon. O/N Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel

Oct 16, Wednesday (B,L)

Today we will continue tracing Arnold’s route to Quebec. We will stop at the Great Carrying Place, Height of Land, and Lake Megantic to Sartigen where the half-starved party received food and supplies. We will follow the action of the Battle of Quebec on a walking tour within the walls of Old Quebec City. O/N Hotel Clarendon, Quebec City, Quebec

Oct 17, Thursday (B,D)

Today we will visit the Montmorency Falls and the Plains of Abraham important sites in an earlier “Battle of Quebec” that took place during the Seven Years War (what Americans refer to as the French & Indian War). We will hear the story of British General James Wolfe’s famous assault that wrested Canada from the French in 1759. Toast our adventure at this evening’s farewell dinner. O/N Hotel Clarendon, Quebec City, Quebec

Oct 18, Friday (B)Individual departures from Quebec.

Note: If you plan to drive and leave your car in Portland, ME during our tour, or if you prefer to fly out of Augusta or Portland, you may ride our bus from Quebec back to Maine. The drive from Quebec to Augusta Airport is approximately 5 hours (including a rest stop). Please schedule your flight from Augusta, ME after 2:00 pm.

If you take our bus to Portland Airport (an additional hour’s drive), please schedule your flight for after 3:30 pm.

NOTE REGARDING AIRLINE RESERVATIONS: This tour begins in Portland, ME and ends in Quebec City, Quebec. When booking your airline reservations do not attempt to book two, one-way tickets. Select "multi-city" or multi-destination" on your airline's website. You may wish to check out a flight search website such as Hipmunk to compare schedules and fares. A recent search for flights from Washington DC to Portland, showed return flights from Quebec or Augusta were less expensive than returning from Portland! Call us if you have any questions at all; we are happy to help.

NOTE REGARDING TRAVEL TO CANADA: On this trip we will be spending three days and two nights in Canada. So please be aware that as of June 2009, U.S. citizens entering Canada by land are now required to present either a validU.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card. A driver’s license is no longer accepted by Canadian or U.S. immigration officials at the border.

EXPERT GUIDE: Edwin C. Bearss is scheduled to lead this tour.

Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, Edwin C. Bearss is an author, lecturer and America's foremost battlefield guide. Ed has led numerous American Revolutionary War tours, and several tours focusing on Benedict Arnold’s 1775 Expedition to Quebec. Ed's encyclopedic knowledge and unflagging energy is legendary; Ed brings history alive like no other.

To enroll on this tour, print & complete the registration form and mail it with a $200 per person deposit check to: South Mountain Expeditions, P.O. Box 204, Keedysville, MD, 21756. Or call us at (301) 988-1852 or toll free at 1 (866) 914-1862. We accept VISA, Mastercard and American Express.